Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The Ruling on Praising the Deceased


The Ruling on Praising the Deceased

Quote from Shaykh Bin Baaz رحمه الله

If praising the deceased is for remembering the good virtues of the deceased to follow him in good deeds such as goodness, generosity, striving in Allaah’s way, forbidding evil, calling to good – mentioning these in praise of the deceased may benefit the Muslims and will not harm them. It will make every believer at ease.
If praising the deceased increases the calamity and leads to wailing or makes the relatives of the deceased incline towards complaining or wailing then it is not appropriate to mention it or read it in their presence. This could cause problems and lead to impermissible acts so do not do it.

Translated by Tara Hashim

حكم رثاء الموتى

السؤال: سؤاله الثاني والأخير يقول فيه: إنني أرتاح عندما يرثى أو يغني جماعة ما بأحد الموتى وحيث أن الدين نهى عن ذلك ونهى عن البكاء على الميت ولكني أتأثر وأرتاح عندما يبكون جماعة أو يرثون أحد الموتى، فهل علي ذنب أو كفارة في ذلك أدامكم الله على طريق الحق؟
 
الجواب: هذا فيه تفصيل: إذا كان الرثاء من باب ذكر محاسن الميت بما يشوق إلى التأسي به والاقتداء به في الأعمال الطيبة من الجود والكرم والجهاد في سبيل الله وإنكار المنكر والدعوة إلى الخير فذكر هذا في المراثي ينفع المسلمين ولا يضرهم ويرتاح له كل مؤمن، أما إذا كانت الرثاء تهيج المصائب بالمصائب وتدعو إلى النياحة وتحرك أحوال أقارب الميت حتى يشتغلوا بالنياحة والصياح فلا ينبغي ذكرها ولا ينبغي قراءتها عندهم؛ لأن هذا يسبب مشاكل ويفضي إلى محرمات فلا يفعل.
أما الأغاني التي تتضمن دعوة إلى الفسوق والعصيان أو تتضمن دعوة إلى شرب الخمور أو إلى غير هذا من الفساد أو إلى التشويق إلى النساء بغير حق أو إلى الحب بغير حق أو ما أشبه ذلك فهذه يجب إنكارها ويجب الحذر منها؛ لأنها تفسد الأخلاق وتفسد القلوب، كما قال ابن مسعود t: «الغناء ينبت النفاق في القلب كما ينبت الماء البقل » والله يقول سبحانه وهو أصدق القائلين: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ [لقمان:6].
أما الغناء الذي فيه الدعوة إلى الخير والأمر بالخير فينبغي أن يكون بألحان العرب فيكون بالأشعار العربية المعروفة والقصائد العربية فلا محذور فيه لكن بغير ألحان النساء وأشباه النساء، لا، يكون بألحان عربية بالشعر العربي كما كان حسان ينشد في عهد النبي ﷺ في الرد على المشركين.

Defending the honour and true aqeedah of sister Aisha


Dr. Aisha Utz has returned to her Lord  رحمها الله

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد

The eyes shed tears, there is sadness and grief in the heart, but we only say things pleasing to our Lord. Indeed we are saddened by the passing away of our dear sister Aisha رحمها الله.

إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون
Indeed to Allaah we belong and to Him we shall return.
Allaah, the Most Perfect and the Most High, said,



155. And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.).
156. Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! To Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return."
157. They are those on whom are the Salawat (i.e. blessings, etc.) (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided-ones. [Al-Baqarah 2:155-157]

Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
A daughter of the Prophet () sent a message to him that her son was at his last breath, and requested him to come to her. The Messenger of Allah () sent back the informer saying: "To Allah belongs what He takes and what He gives, and everything has a limited period (in this world). So ask her to endure patiently, and expect the reward of Allah."
أن لله تعالي ما أخذ وله ما أعطى، وكل شئ عنده بأجل مسمى، ...فلتصبر ولتحتسب”.‏ [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Aisha was a dear friend to many. She was a very quiet, gentle, humble and polite sister despite her raised rank educationally as Assistant Professor at the University in Riyadh.

She accepted Islaam due to justice. When she knew that there would be a Day on which no-one would be wronged and that everyone would take their right.

She was very studious and loved to research. She was always searching for the truth and meticulously asking about the correct way and whether it was from the salaf or not.
When she learned something was right she was strong in implementing it.

She attended Shaykh Saalih Fawzaan’s lectures. She attended the Madeenah Conferences when Salafi Publications and the other salafi centres came together for umrah and seeking knowledge. She taught Tawheed to the sisters in her hometown in Minnesota, USA at the salafi Masjid al Wahyain.

Someone forwarded me a message that was circulating on various whatsapp groups speaking about Aisha’s past contributions to Al Jumuah Magazine and Bilal Philips’ Online University. This message should have been deleted by admin and our sister’s reputation should have been defended. Many sisters who did not know Aisha thereafter doubted her salafiyyah. Admin of groups need to fear Allaah in their responsibilities especially when they are allowing people by passively giving them a platform to promote their deviant ideologies. Many links to deviant materials were also included in that message. It also provided links to her books that she had written to download as a PDF. This surely was in breach of her copyright and took away from her royalties to the books (and those of her children after her!)

Aisha had studied Islaam according to what was available to her at the time which she later found to be incorrect. Once she had found the true path of Islaam according to the Salaf as Saalih The Pious Predecessors,[1] she left her previous paths she had tread. This included writing for a magazine and preparing courses for an online ‘Islamic’ university.[2]

She personally told me, “I wasn’t Salafi when I wrote my first two books so I don’t usually recommend them to people. For ‘The Prick of a Thorn’, I was getting more into true Salafiyyah so that one is better.”

She said to me once, ‘The nice thing about having Salafi sisters is that you know that they will implement the Sunnah which is very important.’

Her 6 children are a testament to her striving and the Islaam that she directed them to اللهم بارك .

She displayed great patience with the immense pain she was tested with during her final illness. Her sabr and tawakkul (patience and putting her trust in Allaah) was an inspiration to all those around her. She made plentiful du’aa and prepared for her death with seeking forgiveness and sincere repentance.  Allaah accept it from her, forgive her sins and make her grave spacious aameen.
She will be greatly missed in the community.

Aisha رحمها الله passed away before our eyes on Sunday 31st March 2019 / 24th Rajab 1440 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after living in the Middle-East for 17 years.

Her name: Umm Mujaahid (Lauren) Aisha Utz (name from a previous marriage - Aisha Hamdan).

Written by Umm ‘AbdirRahmaan Tara Hashim
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
1st Sha’baan 1440/ 6th April 2019


Appendix
Errors Relating to Al Jumuah Magazine

  1. Its Editor Hassan Laidi spoke badly about Shaykh al Albaanee and Shaykh Muhammad Amaan al Jaamee.
  2. The magazine prevented an advert for Shaykh Rabee’s book on ‘The Methodology of the Prophets’ and they spoke badly about him because the shaykh حفظه الله had refuted the deviances of Sayyid Qutb and Mawdoodi.
  3. The masjid funded by the magazine was supporting Safar al Hawaalee and Salman al ‘Awdah who were two revolutionaries imprisoned on recommendation by the noble scholar Shakyh bin Baz رحمه الله (former mufti of Saudi Arabia).
  4. The Publishing Director Mounir Ibrahim used to teach new Muslims the false ideology of ‘Al Haakimiyyah’.
  5. The magazine promoted the erring Jamaal Zarabozo as mufti.
  6. The magazine cut and paste from the erring Munajjid’s website.
  7. The magazine advertised deviant organizations such as ISNA, ICNA and IANA.
  8. The magazine was run by Al Muntada al Islami who are known to be deviant.

****************************
Errors Relating to Bilal Philips

  1. Bilal Philips is an ‘ikhwaanee’ and not a ‘salafee’ as he has claimed in the past.
  2. He praises the founders of deviant ideologies such as Muhamad Qutb, Hasan al Banna (who was a sufi and worked with the raafidah shee’ah) and Mawdudi.
  3. He supports the misguided way of revolution and political activism.

Written by Umm ‘AbdirRahmaan Tara Hashim
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4th Sha’baan 1440/ 9th April 2019


[1] To understand more about why we should stick to the Salaf as Saalih and warn against anyone who promotes anything that deviates from that pure path click on the following link: : https://www.abukhadeejah.com/it-is-distasteful-when-we-warn-and-speak-against-the-other-sects/
[2] See the Appendix below for further information.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Deviant Beliefs regarding Allaah's Names


Section 3-6 Belief in Allaah's Names and Attributes

Shaykh Fawzaan’s Explanation of

‘The Creed of Muhammad bin ‘Abdil Wahhaab, the Imaam, the Revivalist’

Translated by Umm ‘AbdirRahmaan Tara Hashim

Section 3         (Part 1)  Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah
                                                (without tahreef or ta’teel)

Text:

From the belief in Allaah is the belief in what He has described Himself with in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger (r) without distortion (tahreef) or denial (ta’teel).


Explanation:

When the Shaykh mentioned the pillars of faith, he clarified an aspect that belongs to the first pillar of belief in Allaah which is belief in His Names and Attributes. Whoever denies the Names and Attributes is not a believer with correct faith in Allaah. This is a refutation of the Mu’attilah who deny Allaah’s Names and Attributes because they do not believe in them.

So from Belief in Allaah, is belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah which are found in the Book and Sunnah without distortion (tahreef) or denial (ta’teel).’ ‘Distortion’ means ‘changing’, i.e changing the words or the meanings.Words are changed when they are added to or have had something taken away. For example, they changed ‘rose over’ (istawaa) by saying ‘conquered’ (istawlaa). This is changing a word where they have added a letter.
Examples of changing meanings are explaining ‘rising over’ (al-istawaa) by saying ‘conquering’ (al-isteelaa) or explaining ‘Hand’ as ‘Power’, or ‘Face’ as ‘Self’. This is changing Allaah’s Speech. Allaah (U) said,

)مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ(
Among those who are Jews, there are some who displace words from (their) right places.
[an Nisaa 4:46]

His saying, ‘or denial (ta’teel)means to deny the Names and Attributes of Allaah and to take them away from Allaah.

**********



Section 4         (Part 2) Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah (Ilhaad)

Text:

Indeed, I believe about Allaah (I) that,

)لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ(
There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. [ash Shooraa 42:11]

So I do not deny what He has described Himself with, I do not change words out of their places and I do not deny, distort or add (ilhaad) to His Names or verses.


Explanation:

The author (may Allaah have mercy on him) believes in what this aayah indicates because it is the measure regarding all of Allaah’s Names and Attributes. ‘There is nothing like Him,’ in His Names or Attributes. Even though His Names share the same words and meanings as the names of the creation, they do not share anything in terms of reality and nature of how they are. So sharing the same name and the origin of the meaning does not mean sharing the reality and nature of how they are. As Allaah said, ‘There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.’ [ash Shooraa 42:11] There is a refutation of the Mu’attilah (those who deny Allaah’s Names and Attributes – ta’teel) in this aayah. Allaah negated anything being like Himself and He affirmed His Names and Attributes of Hearing and Seeing for Himself. So He indicated that affirming the Names and Attributes does not necessitate likening Himself to the creation (tashbeeh). Allaah’s Saying, ‘There is nothing like Him’ contains negation and ‘He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer’ contains affirmation. He negated anything being like Himself and He affirmed the Names and Attributes for Himself.

The author says, ‘I do not deny what He has described Himself with’ which is what the Mu’attilah did.

The author’s saying, ‘and I do not deny, distort or add (ilhaad).’Ilhaad’ linguistically means ‘leaning’. ‘Ilhaad’ in Allaah’s Names and Attributes is diverting them from their meaning to a false meaning, such as interpreting the ‘Face’ as ‘Self’ and ‘Hand’ as ‘Power’ or ‘Blessing, etc. This is distorting the words from their places (tahreef). Allaah (I) says,

)إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا لَا يَخْفَوْنَ عَلَيْنَا(
Verily, those who turn away from Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc. by attacking, distorting and denying them) are not hidden from Us. [Fussilat 41:40]

‘…turn away’ (yulhidoona – verb derived from ‘ilhaad’) means they deviate regarding them either by denying them like the Mu’attilah did, by likening them to the attributes of the creation as the Mumaththilah (a sect who liken Allaah to the creation) did or by adding something that Allaah or His Messenger (r) did not affirm, such as making them names for their idols like ‘al Laat’ and ‘al Uzza and so on.

***********



Section 5         (Part 3) Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah
                                                (without tamtheel or tashbeeh)

Text:

And I do not ask ‘how?’ and I do not liken His, the Exalted’s attributes, to the attributes of His creation; because no-one is similar to Allaah (U) neither is anyone equal to Him nor does He have a Partner. Analogy is not made between Him and His Creation. Indeed, Allaah is most Knowing about Himself and about others. He is the Most Truthful and Best in Speech.


Explanation:

The Mumaththilah is the second category of people who are astray regarding Allaah’s Names and Attributes. They overstepped the bounds and went to an extreme in affirming them. They did not make a distinction between the Attributes of Allaah and the attributes of the creation, nor between His Names and the names of the creation. These people are called Mushabbihah (they make ‘tashbeeh’/ ‘tamtheel’), and Allaah’s refuge is sought!

Due to this, the scholars have said that, ‘The person who denies (mu’attil) (the Names and Attributes) worships nothingness and the person who likens Allaah to His creation (Mumaththil) worships an idol’ [1] So when they say, ‘the mu’attil’ worships nothingness, this is because the one who has no names nor attributes is nothing, and the ‘Mumaththil’ worships a human idol because he has made Allaah like a human; Exalted be Allaah from this.

So the author’s saying, ‘And I do not ask ‘how?’ and I do not liken His Attributes (U) to the attributes of His creation,’ means that ‘I do not know the nature of how they are nor what they are like. This is from Allaah’s Knowledge. No-one knows the true nature of His Attributes except Him and no-one knows the true nature of His Self except Him.

يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ عِلْمًا
He (Allâh) knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them (in the Hereafter) but they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge. [Taha 20:110]

The believers know their Lord and that He is their Lord and their Creator. They know that He exists and that He is perfect. However, they cannot encompass the reality of Him.

The author’s saying, ‘Because no-one is similar to Allaah (U)’ means that no-one deserves His Name with its true reality. And the meaning of Because no-one is similar to Allaah (U)is not that no-one has the same name as His. This is because the creation can have the names: al Azeez (the great) and al Malik (the king). The creation can be named with what corresponds to the Name of the Creator by way of letters and meaning, but it does not correspond to the true nature of Allaah’s Name. So the meaning of ‘no-one is similar to Him’ is that no-one deserves to be named with the true nature of His Name.

As Allaah (I) said,

)فَاعْبُدْهُ وَاصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا(
So worship Him (Alone) and be constant and patient in His worship. Do you know of any who is similar to Him? (of course none is similar or co-equal or comparable to Him, and He has none as partner with Him.) (There is nothing like Him and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) [Maryam 19:65]

This means that no-one is equal to Allaah regarding His Names and Attributes.

And the author’s saying that ‘neither is anyone equal to Him.’ is like the saying of Allaah,

)وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ(
And there is none coequal or comparable to Him." [al Ikhlaas 112:4]

This means that no-one matches or is equal to Allaah.

And the author’s saying, ‘nor does He have a Partner.’ ‘partner’ can also mean ‘equal’.

)وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا لِّيُضِلُّوا عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۗ قُلْ تَمَتَّعُوا فَإِنَّ مَصِيرَكُمْ إِلَى النَّارِ(
And they set up rivals to Allâh, to mislead (men) from His path! Say: "Enjoy (your brief life)! But certainly, your destination is the (Hell) Fire!" [Ibraaheem 14:30]

Rivals’ (andaad) is the plural of rival (nidd) or partner and it means equals. So those who worshipped idols made them into Allaah’s partners and made them like Him. If this were not the case, why did they worship them alongside Allaah? For this reason they will say on the Day of Resurrection,

)تَاللَّهِ إِن كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ۝إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُم بِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ(
By Allâh, we were truly in a manifest error,
When we held you (false gods) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists); [ash Shu’araa 26:97-98]

They will admit that they made them equals to the Lord of the worlds in this life. So they deserve the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. This is said out of regret. Allaah (I) said,

)ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ(
those who disbelieve hold others as equal with their Lord. [al An’aam 6:1]

يعدلون  means they make equals with Allaah from among the creation.

And the author’s saying, ‘Analogy is not made between Him and His Creation’ means that He (I) is not compared to His creation with regards to His Names and Attributes. Even though the Names and Attributes share the same word and general meaning, they differ in their true nature and reality.

And the author’s saying, ‘Indeed, Allaah is most Knowing about Himself and about others.’ He Knows most about Himself, as for others, they only know what Allaah (U) has taught them. The angels say,
)قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ(
They (angels) said: "Glorified are You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us”. [al Baqarah 2:32]

Allaah (U) says to His Prophet (r),
)وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا(
and say: "My Lord! Increase me in knowledge." [Taha 20:114]

and Allaah (U) says,

)وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ(
but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allâh). [Yusuf 12:76]

and He says,

)وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا(
And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little." [al Israa 17:85]

So He (I) Knows most about Himself and about others. As for anyone besides Him, he does not know the true nature of Allaah (U) or the true nature of Allaah. Only Allaah (I) Knows it.

And the author’s saying, ‘He is the Most Truthful and Best in Speech.’ This is like what is found in the Qur’aan,   

)وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلًا(
and whose words can be truer than those of Allâh? (Of course, none.) [an Nisaa 4:122]

)وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حَدِيثًا(
And who is truer in statement than Allâh? [an Nisaa 4:87]

No-one is better than Allaah or more truthful than Allaah (in Speech). Allaah said in His Book that He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, All-Wise, All-Knowing and that He has a Face and Two Hands. Allaah said this about Himself and He is most knowing about Himself.

Then these Mu’attilah come along and say, ‘It does not befit Allaah that it is said, “He has a Face” or that “He has a Hand” or that “He is All-Hearing” or “All-Seeing” because these attributes are found in the creation and if we affirm them then we have likened Allaah to His creation!!’


***********




Section 6         (Part 4)  Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah (Deviant sects)


Text:

For He has distanced Himself from what the opposors have described Him with, those people who ask ‘how?’ (takyeef) and liken Allaah to His creation (tamtheel).
And He has distanced Himself from what the negators have negated about Him, from the people of distortion (tahreef) and denial (ta’teel).

Allaah says,

)سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ۝وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ۝وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ(
Glorified is your Lord, the Lord of honour and power! (He is free) from what they attribute to Him!  And peace be on the Messengers! And all praise and thanks are Allâh's, the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists).
[as Saafaat 37:180-182]


Explanation:

Allaah frees Himself from both the Mumaththilah Sect and the Mu’attilah Sect and He affirms the Names and Attributes for Himself in a manner befitting His Majesty (I). Due to this He (I) said,

)سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ(
Glorified is Allâh! (He is free) from what they attribute to Him! [as Saafaat 37:159]

And He said,

)سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ(
Glorified is Allâh from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him) [at Toor 52:43]

Allaah frees Himself from this.
This is the true Methodology and the one that Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah are upon and the one that the Shaykh (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said was his Creed and what he believed in.
Allaah (I) said,

)سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ(
Glorified is your Lord, the Lord of honour and power! (He is free) from what they attribute to Him!
[as Saafaat 37:180]

Allaah frees Himself from what the people who deny (His Names and Attributes) describe Him with (ta’teel) and from what the people who liken Him to the creation describe Him with (tamtheel). Then He said,

)وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ(
And peace be on the Messengers! [as Saafaat 37:181]

Allaah sends peace upon them because they did not err in what they said about Allaah. They described Him free from shortcomings and imperfections. The Messengers described Allaah with what Allaah described Himself with. So for this reason He sent peace upon them. He concluded the aayaat by Saying,
)وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ(
And all praise and thanks are Allâh's, the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists). [as Saafaat 37: 182]

He deserves all appreciation and all praise, no-one else except Him deserves it.

After this clarification, can anyone think that the Shaykh believes in something contrary to the scholars which is what his opponents accuse him of? The answer is no! This is his Creed, clear and pure from the doubts that they accuse him of.


*************




[1] See ‘Al Jawaab as Saheeh’ (4/406) by Shaykh al Islaam ibn Taymiyyah; Minhaaj as Sunnah an Nabawiyyah’ (2/526) and ‘Majmoo’ al Fataawa’ (5/196) and ‘as Sawaa’iq al Mursilah’ (1/148) by Ibn al Qayyim. 

Deviant Beliefs regarding Allaah's Names AQS

  Download Click here